WHO Links Ondo ‘Mystery’ Deaths to Pesticide

• Poisoned ogogoro may be culprit, says commissioner

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Sunday that pesticide poisoning might be the cause of the mystery deaths of at least 18 people in Ode Irele town, Ondo State earlier this week. The “current hypothesis is that the cause of the event is herbicides”, WHO spokesman, Gregory Hartl, said in a tweet. He however gave no details.
The victims have shown symptoms of headache, blurred vision or total blindness and loss of consciousness, followed by death. The Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, also addressing journalists on Sunday, said all victims of the ailment, both dead and alive, have been discovered to have partaken of ogogoro at a particular joint days before the outbreak. The government, he said, has therefore begun toxicology tests on the survivors.
Adeyanju disclosed that while interacting with some of the survivors in Ode Irele on Saturday, they all confirmed that they took the local gin at a particular joint. “There was a particular person who consumed alcohol with other four people and we found out that their names are on the list of those who have died.
“They are actually giving us some clue that this might be some kind of ethanol poisoning but we cannot confirm that until we conclude our toxicology test.
“From the preliminary reports, most of the victims have something in common which is the consumption of large quantity of the same alcohol at a joint over the last weekend.”
He said that government was getting close to unravelling the cause of the strange deaths and dismissed rumour that the strange ailment, now being tagged #OndoX, is the dread Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
The health commissioner noted that five survivors of the 23 reported cases have been referred to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan for further treatment.
He added that 18 persons, mostly commercial motor cycle (okada) riders, and local farmers not related by blood have died of the strange ailment.
While confirming that some of the surviving victims are avoiding the hospitals in the belief that the deaths have spiritual causes, Adeyanju said the people are at liberty to give their own traditional interpretation to the issue but gave assurance that government would deploy necessary machinery to take care of those who manifest the ailment.
Speaking, the Information Commissioner, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said government has been on top of the situation and would continue to provide information until the menace is contained.
Daily Times gathered that normalcy has returned to the town as people now go about their daily activities.